Port improvement pays off
Government officials on September 16 formally marked the close of the Nassau Harbour Improvement Project and celebrated the economic boost the project has brought and will continue to bring to the country.
A $44 million contract was signed for the dredging of Nassau Harbour and other improvements on April 2, 2009. The work has now been essentially completed and an additional $2.3 million has been spent on additional bollards and improvements, Minister of Works Neko Grant announced while turning the facilities over to his colleague ministers for use.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that the deeper, wider and more equipped harbour now accommodates the mega cruise ships that now are a major part of the cruise industry. The investment has already been paying off for Bahamian business operators, he said.
“Capital expenditure is the gift that keeps on giving,” he said.
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that if the money for the project had been given away to Bahamians directly, they would only benefit from it once.
“But if you invest it, you get people (visitors) who come over and over again,” he said.
From departure taxes alone, the cruise ships that are now able to come to The Bahamas due to the harbour improvements will pay for the port investment in three to five years, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said. In addition, he said, the passengers spend money directly with Bahamians, adding to their economic contributions.
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace explained that cruise ships are allowing many people to visit the Bahamas who are searching for bargains. Cruise business is up by 14 percent for The Bahamas for the first six months of the year, compared with just over 3 percent for stopover visitors. Specifically, 1.364 million cruise visitors entered the Bahamas between January and June.
While some Caribbean countries brag about having high stopover numbers, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said a large percentage of those visitors equate to the spending of cruise passengers for The Bahamas.
“What they are prepared to spend for their vacation, they could probably only get one night in The Bahamas because we are at the upper end of cost in terms of what we do,” he said. “So the cruise passenger by and large for me is my low-cost, all-inclusive provider.”
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out that many people are searching for low-cost vacations in the midst of a recession. They view the cruise ships as a low-cost option. If those cruise ships did not exist, large numbers of people would not have an opportunity to come to the Bahamas and spend money, he said. He pointed out that their spending is particularly important to downtown businesses and small business people.
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said the strong cruise visitor arrivals are expected to continue for The Bahamas since more and more cruise ships are looking to depart from ports in the northeastern United States. Cruise ship officials are now beginning to understand that they do not have to travel beyond The Bahamas because their passengers can get multiple experiences by visiting multiple ports within the country, he said.
The recently completed harbour improvement project also included an extension of the western end of Arawak Cay by 1,000 ft.
